Jake and his twin sister, Hannah, were both in a "paramore ripoff band" called "Purple Shanty Shack." At the time, Brendan had a huge crush on Hannah and went to one of their shows to try and get closer to her. Whilst they were on the way to the show, they accidentally stepped into dog shit. When Bren arrived at the show, they made a comment about it during small talk with Hannah. Jake always carried an extra pair of shoes with him in his car, so he brought them out and gave them to Bren for the time being. One day, after school, Bren and Jake decided to hang out with each other at Jake's house. They both quickly bonded over their shared love of music and started hanging out more, jamming with each other. One day, the two of them were rummaging around in Jake's basement and found a book called "Modern Baseball Techniques." This would inspire the name of the band, a majority of their branding, and their compilation cd "Techniques" released in 2014.
After the two of them saw the book, they decided to form the band, performing their first show in one of their friend's garages. The two of them graduated and both moved to Philadelphia, Bren going to Chestnut Hill College and Jake going to Drexel University. At the time, Philidelphia had a young but explosive underground punk/emo scene, and the two of them became very interested in the scene. The two of them recorded their first ep, "The Nameless Ranger" all by themselves and released it on November 11th, 2011. Jake also met Ian Farmer at Drexel, who was a massive ska nerd at the time. The three of them quickly got along with each other, performing their first major show at the "Micheal Jordan House" on the campus of Drexel. The house was named after the fact that admission for any show would be either $3, or a picture of Jordan's face. The music video for their song "The Weekend" was performed in the basement of the Jordan house.
In Autumn 2012, Jake, Bren, and Ian all went into the studio in Drexel to record "Sports", their debut album, which was released on November 27th, 2012. The lyrical content of the album mostly consisted of girls, beer, and sports themselves. Jake played all of the drum parts on the album, as they didn't have a drummer yet. For the shows that they did play, they usually had a friend of the band fill in for them on drums. However, at one of the shows, the trio met and soon became friends with Sean Huber, who was a few years older than the rest of the band and could grow a cool beard. They all got along with each other, and Sean soon joined the band. At these basement shows, many regarded Modern Baseball as one of the greats in the slowly blossoming 4th wave emo scene, also known as the emo revival. The now 4 of them soon became good friends with many members of the scene, most notably Marietta, Old Gray, The Hundred Acre Woods, & Julia Brown. They would eventually release a split with all of them, "Couples Therapy" with Marietta in 2012, "4-Way V-Day Split" which as the title implies, is a 4-way-split between Mobo (which features an acoustic version of "Its Cold Out Here" from "Couples Therapy" called "Phone Tag"), Julia Brown, The Hundred Acre Woods and Old Gray, which came out on Valentine's Day 2013, and another split between just Mobo and The Hundred Acre Woods, also released in 2013.
The band soon embarked on their first full on U.S. tour, playing basement and or bar shows at whatever venue that they could find available. Many other bands from the emo scene around then joined Mobo on tour, such as The Menzingers, Lee Hartney, Ted Nguyent, and Cayetana. Also around this time, the quartet signed to Run for Cover records, gearing up to release their sophmore LP, You're Gonna Miss It All, which soon released on February 11th, 2014. For promotion for this album, Bren said that they would shave the avatar arrow into their hair if the album got over 1,000 pre-orders. It went very much over that, and Bren stuck with the nearly bald haircut for the rest of the Mobo career. Once again the band (mostly) tackled production by themselves, and the album peaked on 97 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. The band went on another tour, this time with the Wonder Years, later touring Europe with bands such as Knuckle Puck, Foxing, Crying, and Somos.
On October 23rd, 2015, the quartet released "Mobo Presents: The Perfect Cast EP Featuring Modern Baseball", their 2nd EP. The EP is extremely important to the trajectory of Mobo moving foward because of their sound change presented here. Whilst their projects before this were more snarky and lighthearted even through the circumstances and lyrical topics, The Perfect Cast wallowed in the sorrow. This is mostly speculated to be because in mid-2015, Bren was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and attempted to kill themselves. The band at the time, cancelled their tour and would (for the most part) step away from touring as much as they did after this event. The band announced in late 2015 that their third LP, Holy Ghost, began development. In February of the next year, the band announced the release date of May 13th via Run for Cover in the US/Canada, and Big Scary Monsters everywhere else. In May, the record released. The concept of this record was split into half, depending on which member was writing and performing the vocals. Jake took up the songs Holy Ghost to Hiding, with his main lyrical focus being on losing a loved one. Bren took up the other side, from Coding These to Lukens and the closer Just Another Face. Their side mostly focused on depression and death.
In May 2016, the band embarked on their next tour, promoting The Perfect Cast and Holy Ghost with Joyce Manor and Thin Lips. Later in 2016, they would support acts such as The Front Bottoms and Brand New. In December 2016, Jake would start the (at the time) solo side project, Slaughter Beach, Dog. Sean would also start a new band, Steady Hands, where he would provide vocals. In January 2017, Bren would announce on Instagram that they would not be joining the band on their Europe/UK tour, to focus more on their mental health. The month after that, the band would cancel the tour all together, also citing their mental health as a reason for this.
In the meantime, Ian joined Slaughter Beach, Dog, and Sean would continue to focus on Steady Hands, releasing their debut. A few months later, the band announced that they would be going on indefinite hiatus. In a June 2017 interview with Jake, he remarked saying "let's not call it a breakup and make a huge deal about it and have a 'Last Show Ever' or anything like that. Let's just take it easy for now, and if we wake up and want to do it again, then let's do it". They performed a one off show supporting Daniel Johnston on his last US tour, which would also be their final performance as Modern Baseball. In an October 2017 interview, Jake confirmed that the band no longer had plans to perform again.
In the years following the "end" of Modern Baseball, all of the members have been doing their own thing. Sean became a father and continued to work on Steady Hands, releasing 2 albums. Jake and Ian are still working on Slaughter Beach, Dog, and currently have 5 albums and a few eps. Bren has been a different case - for the most part they have been laying low, and doing their own thing. They have been mostly absent on social media, however they did reappear on Instagram for the 10th anniversary of Sports.
The Weekend
Modern Baseball Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Making my way to Hipster with Glasses
Was a little more than just nerve wrackin'
Kinda' just counted on her to turn me into goo
Praise Whatever it ended with a smile
Cause for a bit, a tad, a little while
I expected you two, to save the day with sly remarks
Though the white jacket didn't fit
The friends I came with did, perfectly
Snugged right to my body
Like sad movies and late night drinks
Could've guessed by the end of the hour
There was more than just a little smile on my face
Covered in custard and cookies and cream, pissed off I had to leave
But all has to end.
You got a smile that could light this town and we might need it
Cause it gets dark around here, real dark around here
Most of my old friends I can only stand for the weekend
But that doesn't apply here, doesn't apply here
The day started with a bloody drip
And a taste on my lips that was a lot less than desired
Awkward moments to the side
Not all expiring fast
A tank top that didn't cover a thing
And a zipped down hoodie, zipped to the bottom
Had us laughing every time
No matter how many chest hairs there were in sight
You got a smile that could light this town and we might need it
Cause it gets dark around here, real dark around here
Most of my old friends I can only stand for the weekend
But that doesn't apply here, doesn't apply here
The lyrics to Modern Baseball’s song “The Weekend” paint a picture of a night out with friends, trying to impress a girl and having a good time. The singer seems cool, calm, and collected on the surface, but internally is a ball of nerves hoping to impress the girl he’s with. He’s counting on her to turn him into goo, meaning that he hopes she’ll make him feel comfortable and confident by the end of the night. Even though the white jacket he wore wasn’t the best fit, he still felt comfortable in the presence of his friends, who he describes as snugged right to his body like “sad movies and late night drinks.”
The singer seems relieved that the night ended with a smile, most likely coming from his crush. He expected his friends to make sly remarks, but instead, they just blended in with the night perfectly. The singer seems to have had a great time, covered in custard and cookies and cream, but with a bit of a sour taste in his mouth that wasn’t quite what he expected, as hinted in the line “the day started with a bloody drip and a taste on my lips that was a lot less than desired.” However, it’s clear that he enjoyed himself and was reluctant to leave.
Line by Line Meaning
Though I seem cool, calm and collected
Even though I give off a collected persona,
Making my way to Hipster with Glasses
As I was on my way to Hipster with Glasses,
Was a little more than just nerve wrackin'
It was a bit nerve-wracking,
Kinda' just counted on her to turn me into goo
I was hoping Hipster with Glasses would have a certain effect on me
Praise Whatever it ended with a smile
I'm relieved that everything ended on a positive note
Cause for a bit, a tad, a little while
Because, for a brief moment,
I expected you two, to save the day with sly remarks
I thought that you and your friends would make some witty remarks,
Like 'he's so cute' and 'whatever you want'
Like saying I'm attractive and can have whatever I desire
Though the white jacket didn't fit
Although the white jacket was too small for me,
The friends I came with did, perfectly
My companions fit in seamlessly,
Snugged right to my body
Fitting closely against me
Like sad movies and late night drinks
Like how sad movies and drinks complement each other
Could've guessed by the end of the hour
I could tell by the hour's end
There was more than just a little smile on my face
That I was grinning widely
Covered in custard and cookies and cream, pissed off I had to leave
I was smothered in dessert but upset I had to depart
But all has to end.
As all good things do.
You got a smile that could light this town and we might need it
Your smile is infectious and uplifting
Cause it gets dark around here, real dark around here
Because the atmosphere here is usually bleak
Most of my old friends I can only stand for the weekend
I can only tolerate my old friends for a short period of time
But that doesn't apply here, doesn't apply here
But that's not the case here.
The day started with a bloody drip
The day began with a small injury
And a taste on my lips that was a lot less than desired
I had a taste in my mouth that wasn't satisfying
Awkward moments to the side
Putting aside some awkward moments that occurred
Not all expiring fast
Not everything came to an end quickly
A tank top that didn't cover a thing
I was wearing a tank top that didn't offer much coverage
And a zipped down hoodie, zipped to the bottom
I had my hoodie fully unzipped
Had us laughing every time
It never failed to make us laugh
No matter how many chest hairs there were in sight
Regardless of how many visible chest hairs there were
You got a smile that could light this town and we might need it
Your smile has an infectious quality, and can bring light to the surroundings.
Cause it gets dark around here, real dark around here
This place usually has a bleak, dark atmosphere
Most of my old friends I can only stand for the weekend
I can only tolerate my old friends for a brief period.
But that doesn't apply here, doesn't apply here
But that's not the case here.
Contributed by Muhammad H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
zombieface98
The Weekend
/
Lyrics
Though I seem cool, calm and collected
Making my way to Hipster with Glasses
Was a little more than just nerve wrackin'
Kinda just counted on her to turn me into goo
Praise whatever it ended with a smile
'Cause for a bit, a tad, a little while
I expected you two to save the day with sly remarks
Like, "he's so cute" and "whatever you want's"
Though the white jacket didn't fit
The friends I came with did perfectly
Snugged right to my body
Like sad movies and late night drinks
Could've guessed by the end of the hour
There was more than just a little smile on my face
Covered in custard and cookies and cream, pissed off, I had to leave
But all has to end
You got a smile that could light this town, and we might need it
'Cause it gets dark around here, real dark around here
Most of my old friends, I can only stand for the weekend
But that doesn't apply here, doesn't apply here
The day started with a bloody drip
And a taste on my lips that was a lot less than desired
Awkward moments to the side
Not all expiring fast
A tank top that didn't cover a thing
And a zipped down hoodie, zipped to the bottom
Had us laughing every time
No matter how many chest hairs there were in sight
You got a smile that could light this town and we might need it
'Cause it gets dark around here, real dark around here
Most of my old friends I can only stand for the weekend
But that doesn't apply here, doesn't apply here
Jackson Fox
the emotion I sense from the band is just unreal, makes me wish I had friends like that
Thomas Sylvia
Jackson Fox it’s not real
Sporkasoid
Makes me wish I had friends
UtubeIsLife IHaveNoFriends
If everyone who said they didn’t have friends would band together then they’d have a lot of friends
As you can tell I have no friends haha
[𝙲𝚡𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚗]
Y-You have friends?
Mad_Rabbits
"but all has to end" rest in peace modern baseball. You are missed.
Leon
Broooo no way he passed away ??? Come on why everyone i started to know are passed away 😭
Leon
@Mad_Rabbits well thank lord but that's also sad to see they broke up...
destroyerman72
@Leon the band passed away, not a member
Leon
@destroyerman72 well still new, but still sad.